Collapsible garment hanger



vI ma) June 26, 1962 J. VARGO 3,040,941

COLLAPSIBLE GARMENT HANGER Filed April 24, 1961 INVENTOR. JOSEPH VARGO BYg'alwum'gn ATTORNEY Unite States Patent Ofiice 31140341 Patented June 26, 1962 3,040,941 COLLAPSTBLE GARMENT HANGER Joseph Vargo, E. Elm St., Middlefield, Ohio Filed Apr. 24, 1961, Ser. No. 104,937 1 Claim. (Cl. 223--89) This invention relates to garment hangers and more particularly to the type adapted to hold and support a coat and trousers and possibly other garments, and which hanger is foldable or collapsible to thereby permit it when in its folded condition, to be easily transported in luggage or compactly packed for shipment or for other purposes.

It is an object of the invention to provide a foldable garment hanger of this character which can, if desired, 'be made of plastic material and which, when in its garment-supporting position, will be rigid and strong and be well able to support one or more garments with the facility of a non-foldable hanger.

It is an object of the invention to provide a hanger of this kind which, when folded, will occupy little space and thus be able to be carried in a hand bag or in any other small receptacle for use when travelling.

More particularly, the invention contemplates the provision of a hanger having a three-part garment-supporting bar, with the parts thereof being hingedly connected so that two arms which constitute two of the parts of the bar, can be folded downwardly toward one another into spaced-apart, parallel relationship. The invention further contemplates the provision of a cross-bar consisting of two sections hingedly connected together at substantially the center of the hanger, with the ends of these sections respectively pivotally connected to the ends of the arms, the pivotal connection between the two section of the cross-bar and the pivotal connection between the ends of said sections and the arms being such as to permit the sections to be folded upwardly to lie between the arms when the arms are folded into the parallel, spaced-apart relationship above described.

With these and other objects to be hereinafter set forth in view, I have devised the arrangement of parts to be described and more particularly pointed out in the claim appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention is disclosed,

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a foldable or collapsible garment hanger, constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of the same;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view, taken substantially on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the central part of the hanger bar, with a portion thereof being broken away and showing the pivotal attachment of the arms of the 'bar to said central portion;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view, taken substantially on the line 5-5 of FIG. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of one end of one of the hanger bar arms showing the hinge parts provided thereon.

The improved hanger may be largely composed of plastic, wood, metal or other suitable material, and it includes a garment-supporting bar generally indicated at 1 and herein referred to as the hanger bar, and a crossbar generally indicated at 2.

The hanger bar 1 is composed of three main elements namely, a central head 3, and two arms indicated respectively at 4 and 5. These arms 4 and 5 are hingedly attached to the central head 3 in a manner to be described.

The central head 3 may be of solid or hollow formation, and in the form shown it is provided at the top with a suspension hook 6 by means of which the garment hanger may be suspended from a supporting bar in the conventional way. The suspension hook may be formed integrally with the central head, particularly if this part of the hanger is composed of plastic, or the hook may be a separate element anchored in the central head 3 in any known manner.

In the form shown, the central head is of hollow form, being provided with the front and rear walls indicated respectively at 8 and 9, and with a central vertical reinforcing web shown at 10. The rear wall 9 and the central web 19 have attached at their lower ends, cross pins shown at 11 and 12, which pins constitute pivot pins on which the arms 4 and 5 are pivotal. Each of the arms 4 and 5 is provided at one end with a pair of hooks or claws 13, 14 which extend around one of the pins 11 or 12 to thereby hingedly couple the arms 4- and 5 to the central head 3. The central head also includes end walls, shown respectively at 15 and 16, each of these end walls being shortened or cut away as indicated at 17 to provide clearance to enable the hooks or claws '13 and 14 on the arms 4 and 5 to be passed through to lit the hooks or claws 13, 14 around the pins 11 and 12.

The shape and construction of the parts 3, 4 and 5 is such that when they are hingedly connected as shown and as above described, the end walls 15 and 16 of the central head 3 form upwardly diverging abutments against which each flat end 18 on the arms 4 and 5 will contact when the hanger is in its extended or garment-supporting position substantially as shown in FIG. 1.

The hanger is provided with a two-part cross-bar indicated at 2, the same consisting of the two connected section 19 and 2t hingedly joined together at one end, and at a point located substantially at the center of the hanger. The cross-bar section 20 is provided at one end with a flattened part 21 which is located between the clevised end 22 on the arm 4 and is attached thereto by a rivet 23 constituting a pivot pin. Similarly, the cross-bar section 19 is provided with the flattened extremity 24 positioned in the clevised end 25 of the arm 5 and secured therein by the rivet or pivot pin 26.

The opposite ends of the two cross-bar sections 19 and 20 are pivotally connected together by a pivot pin 27, the end portions 28 and 29 of the sections 19 and 20 so interfit-ting and being in abutting relation, as clearly shown in FIG. 4 as to maintain the cross-bar rigidly in non-collapsing position while the hanger is in its normal garmentsupporting position as shown in FIG. 1.

In normal use, the hanger appears as shown in FIG. 1, wherein it will be noted that the end surfaces 18 of the arms 4- and 5 of the hanger bar are in abutment with the end walls 15 and 16 of the central head 3, and the crossbar is in its position of extension between the two arms 4 and 5. The relationship of the parts of the hanger at this time is such that the hanger and its cross-bar form rigid supporting means for a coat and trousers.

The hanger may be readily placed in its folded or collapsed condition, wherein it assumes the shape shown in dotted lines in FIG. 1, by exerting a manually-imposed upward thrust against the cross-bar in the vicinity of the pivot 27, thus causing the bar sections 19 and 20 to pivot upwardly on the pivot pin 27 and by such movement cause the hanger bar arms 4 and 5 to be drawn downwardly or toward one another. If a coat is support-ed on the hanger bar at the time that the same is collapsed as above described, this collapsing movement will enable the coat to be easily and smoothly slid from off the hanger bar. When the hanger is in the folded or collapsed condition shown in dotted lines in FIG. 1, it will be noted that the arms 4 and 5 have been folded down to spaced-apart and substantially parallel position, with the sections 19 and 20 of the cross-bar disposed in the space between them, so that the entire hanger, in its collapsed or folded position is rendered compact to thereby occupy relatively small space in a travelling bag. The placing of the hanger in garmentsupporting position merely requires the bringing of the cross-bar sections down into their extended, end-to-end position, as shown in full lines in FIG. 1, such movement of these elements causing the arms 4 and 5 to be moved to their extended, garment-supporting position.

Having thus described a single embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto, but is broad enough to cover all structures coming within the scope of the annexed claim.

What I claim is:

A garment hanger comprising a molded hollow head having upwardly divergent ends, the 'head being open 15 upon its bottom and partially open at its ends to define access openings, the head being provided with a central web portion that is coextensive with side walls of the head and the ends, pins in the head at the lower part of the same end at the ends of the head and spanning the end openings, the said pins being integral with the web portion and the side walls, garment supporting arms extending laterally from the head, each of the arms having a pair of spaced apart hooks at one end engaging around the pins upon opposite sides of the web and establishing a 4 pivotal connection between each arm and the head, such pivotal connection permitting the arms to be hingedly moved down from the head to a position of parallelism, a cross-bar extending between the ends of the arms, the cross-bar consisting of two elongated sections pivoted together at one end, the other end of one of the sections being pivotally attached to one of the arms and the other end of the second section being pivotally attached to the end of the second arm, the pivotal connections between the cross-bar sections and the arms, and the pivotal connection between the sections permitting the sections to move downwardly and alongside one another and positioned between the arms when the arms are moved into parallel and spaced relation, and an integral suspension hook formed upon the head.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,278,054 Strand Sept. 3, 1918 1,351,516 Hoffiman Aug. 31, 1920 1,682,626 Peckharn Aug. 28, 1928 FOREIGN PATENTS 408,827 Germany Jan. 28, 1925 

